Tax commissioner Lamar Dalton says it’s the worst part of his job — selling off the properties of people who can’t pay their taxes.

“It’s the ugliest thing I do,” he said. “I hate it, but it’s part of the job.”

Dalton has a tax sale at the county courthouse set for Sept. 1. And as of Tuesday, 118 properties remained advertised in this newspaper for sale on that date. The figure is down from about 150 when advertising for the sale began, with about $495,000 in outstanding property taxes. Dalton said some people have come in to pay their late bills, but not as many as he had hoped. And he urged anyone facing the sale to make arrangements to pay to avoid losing their property.

Dalton said some of the advertised properties have gone up for sale several times but never been purchased, such as areas with decrepit mobile homes or other unattractive features that make buyers wary. These include properties where taxes haven’t been paid since 2003. Dalton will appear before the board of commissioners Monday morning at 8:45 to ask the group to allow him to pursue the sale of 20 such properties through a different process. For instance, he said he’ll look at seeing if adjoining land owners at some of these properties that won’t sell might be willing to buy the land at a cheap price.

“The thing we’re trying to do is get these properties back into the tax system under paying customers,” said Dalton.

The tax commissioner said he planned to post signs on the properties for sale on Aug. 25.

While a tax sale can mean the end of ownership for a delinquent taxpayer, it’s not necessarily their final farewell to the property. Under Georgia law, a delinquent property owner has just over a year to pay the tax bill plus a 20-percent premium and still get their property back.

Dalton said another tax sale will be held the first Tuesday in November.

The Madison County Tax Commissioner’s Office is located in the county government complex in Danielsville. The office can be reached at 706-795-6385.

A Madison County man was shot Monday evening after he was reportedly taken hostage inside his logging truck at a work site in Oglethorpe County.

Don Davis, who lives on off Jot-Em-Down Road in northern Madison County, was taken via Life Flight to Athens Regional Medical Center, where he underwent surgery Monday night.

According to his pastor, Rev. Zach Hawks, of Community Baptist Church, Davis is expected to fully recover. He said he has spoken with both Mr. Davis and his wife Kathy and said he said that Davis is “in good spirits, despite the tragic scenario of events.”

Hawks said church members, family and friends have rallied around the Davis’s providing comfort, food and support.

“I think at this stage they are just overwhelmed,” Hawks said, and he asked for space for the family at this time and for prayers, from a distance, for them as they grapple with all that has happened. He said visitation at the hospital is extremely limited.

According to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation press release, Davis’s injuries occurred during an exchange of gunfire between police and his captor, Ryan Edgar Arnold, 23. of Lexington, who was also taken to an area hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound.

The incident began on Monday when the GBI officials responded to a request for assistance from the Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office regarding the investigation of an incident that began as “a barricaded gunman and evolved into a vehicle pursuit where gunfire was exchanged with law enforcement.”[Full Story »]

Danielsville city council members heard Monday night that new signs, sidewalks and other larger scale improvement projects are underway in town.

The city was notified that it received a $174,000 grant from GEMA/FEMA to place diesel generators at the city’s two wells and at two sewer lift stations.

The generators will allow water and sewer services to continue to operate during severe weather events and natural disasters.

These funds were made possible as a result of the City of Danielsville’s participation and adoption of the Madison County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

“I want to applaud you, Brenan, for getting this done,” Mayor Todd Higdon told city police chief Brenan Baird, who worked with state and federal officials to obtain the grant for the city. Baird noted that each member of the city’s staff had a part in completing the work for the grant.

The police department will also soon receive a $6,000 grant for additional police equipment.

— For more about Danielsville, see the Aug. 13 print edition of The Madison County Journal

The county commissioners' meeting room was packed full for over three hours Thursday night as the board considered a temporary halt to such permits. The group was looking at potentially setting limits on the allowable scale of poultry operations in the county.

But after hours of input from the audience, the BOC abruptly adjourned the meeting without taking any action.

-- Purchase the Aug. 27 print edition of The Madison County Journal for more coverage.

Madison County leaders may set a temporary ban on the issuance of chicken house permits as they determine how big chicken farms can actually be in the county.

The board of commissioners will meet at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 20, in the county government complex to “discuss a possible moratorium on chicken house permits.” Concerned citizens are asked to attend and offer their input.

The issue was presented to the BOC recently when a group of Friendship Church Road residents addressed the group about massive chicken house developments planned in their area. A number of neighboring residents are piping mad about what a huge influx of chicken houses could mean to their health, air quality, well water supplies, area roads and property values.

“This is not a family farm; it’s a corporate type of thing, people moving in and destroying our lives, our property values and our water supplies,” said nearby resident Tim Leachman. “We’d appreciate anything you can do.”

According to county zoning administrator Linda Fortson, the Friendship Church Road area could have as many as 58 chicken houses in a one-mile square radius in the near future. There are currently 16 in operation, with the possibility of another 42 added.

— See the Aug. 13 print edition of The Madison County Journal for the full story

Madison County has no limits on how big a poultry farm can get, but some local residents want that to change as massive chicken operations are planned near them.

They say a family chicken farm is one thing, but a huge industrial poultry operation is different. And they want the local zoning regulations to reflect that. Right now, the county’s A-1 zoning designation doesn’t put any caps on the number of chicken houses allowed.

According to county zoning administrator Linda Fortson, the Friendship Church Road area could have as many as 58 chicken houses in a one-mile square radius in the near future. There are currently 16 in operation, with the possibility of another 42 added.

According to Fortson, Thanh Nam Duong bought 80 acres of the old Stovall Dairy Farm, which was in operation for decades at 2485 Friendship Church Road, in February of 2014. Sixteen large chicken houses are being planned on that property. Eight have already been permitted by the county. No phone number for Duong was on the permits. And the Journal had not reached him as of press time to discuss plans for the property. Fortson said another 95.75-acre portion of the Stovall farm could eventually have between 16-to-20 houses. Another 10 chicken houses are planned on neighboring property on Furnace Creek Road.

A number of neighboring residents are piping mad about what such a huge influx of chicken houses could mean to their health, air quality, well water supplies, area roads and property values. And a group of Friendship Church Road area residents approached the board of commissioners Aug. 3, asking for protection from industrial farming planned next door.

“This is not a family farm; it’s a corporate type of thing, people moving in and destroying our lives, our property values and our water supplies,” said nearby resident Tim Leachman. “We’d appreciate anything you can do.”

Leachman noted that this is not just a Friendship Church Road issue, but a Madison County and Northeast Georgia matter. Other industrial-sized poultry operations are moving into the area. Leachman and many others who took the podium Monday urged the board to set guidelines on how densely poultry houses can be clustered together.

“We need to take a stand on the number of chicken houses that can be built in a limited area and I hope you will consider it like it was in your own backyard,” he said.[Full Story »]

Dallas Cowne has been named the Madison County School System’s Teacher of the Year and Angie Kimsey is the system’s Support Person of the Year.

Cowne teaches AP English at Madison County High School and Kimsey serves as the House 1300 secretary at Madison County Middle School.

Superintendent Allen McCannon recognized the two at the county school board meeting Tuesday, saying that Cowne is a compassionate, talented teacher who is “loved by all his students.” He said Kimsey is a “conscientious, caring mother-figure” who treats all the students she comes in contact with as if they are her own.

“Both these individuals exemplify what we strive for in our school system,” McCannon said.

In other matters Aug. 11, school administrators reported a smooth opening day for schools county wide Aug. 7. McCannon said it was an excellent day with few reported problems or issues.

Assistant superintendent Bonnie Knight said actual enrollment figures the first day were at 4,750 students, well below the projected 4,930. She said most of the discrepancy was at the high school and that enrollment has picked up since the first day and that some of the lower number is possibly due to enrollment at Foothills Charter School, which has increased its enrollment to 156.

How does an officer respond if he or she is called to a school or church shooting where the suspect is still armed?

Such scenarios are horrifying, but it’s the kind of situation that law enforcement agencies must anticipate. And Madison County just approved $29,000 in sales tax funding to go toward new training equipment that will provide a virtual environment to put officers in hypothetical high-stress situations.

A big screen will be mounted in the sheriff’s office training center, where officers will be tested and taught how to respond appropriately with force.

“We can actually use buildings in the county and make scenarios and put that on the computer,” said sheriff Kip Thomas. “This is training on real-life places you might be. You could actually use churches in the simulator.”

Thomas said the officers can train with shotguns, pistols, rifles or tasers.

“You learn how to play under stress,” said the sheriff.

Chief deputy Shawn Burns said the technology on such training devices is rapidly improving, adding that he’s seen simulators with 3-D effects that make a suspect seemingly “steps out of the screen” toward the officer.

Dove said the county has about $240,000 left in sales tax funds from the 2008 special purpose local option sales tax for the jail expansion. Commissioner Jim Escoe asked county attorney Mike Pruett if the sales tax money could be used for the training equipment. Pruett said that it is allowable, since the ballot language for the sales tax referendum was broad enough to allow for such purchases.

In other matters Monday, the board renewed its property and casualty insurance with One Beacon Insurance for $184,532. The county’s insurance agent Dan Horne of Chastain and Associates said the county had a good year, with few claims, and there was no overall rate increase.

The board agreed to consider having Judge John Bailey, who is now working as a retired senior judge, do some per diem work for the county to help move cases through the judicial system quicker. Commissioner Stanley Thomas said the cost of housing prisoners before trial is high and that moving cases faster through the system should save the county money, even if it means paying a judge for part-time work. The board agreed to get more financial numbers on the proposal.

The board approved the hiring of Alex Rose McLaughlin to a position at the senior center. The commissioners named Karen Bryan and Ellen Cowne to the county library board. The group agreed to seek bids for the paving of Old Church Road and the resurfacing of Madison Boulevard.